Building and Realty Institute to file brief in legal fight over housing settlement

The Building and Realty Institute of Westchester and the Mid-Hudson Region has decided to file a friend of the court brief at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Westchester County in its fight with the federal government over source-of-income legislation.

The legislation would prohibit discrimination against tenants who use Section 8 or other government income to pay rent. County Executive Rob Astorino vetoed the legislation but the government argues he was required to sign it as part of the 2009 fair housing settlement.

The Atlantic Legal Foundation, a non-profit law firm based in Larchmont that advocates for limited government and free enterprise, was brought in to file the brief for the Building and Realty Institute, which represents apartment owners who oppose the passage of the source-of-income law.

“It’s our understanding that the whole thrust of the program as originally conceived by Congress and legislated by Congress was as a voluntary program,” said Albert Annunziata, executive director of the institute.